As you know, the world economic order is shifting dramatically. On one hand, the world has never been more interconnected. On the other, it has never been more fractured. I saw a quote recently that said, “The world is getting better and better, and worse and worse, faster every year.” In the context of that, Asia is shifting—from being a minority of the world to becoming the majority. It is already driving more than half of the world’s economic growth.
As we survey and talk to most of the leading CEOs in Asia, many of them—the vast majority, I would say—are still optimistic about the world. They see a rainbow at the end of this journey, but they equally recognize the need to circumvent and/or address many important challenges and benefit from many important trends.
From a demographic standpoint, much of Asia, like the rest of the world, is growing old. China is an example of a population that is declining. Korea and Japan are the same. Over the next decade or so, more than 300 million people will move out of the workforce in North Asia. So reskilling and managing productivity are going to become very critical.
Finally, no conversation is complete without mentioning generative AI (gen AI). I think a lot of companies have the opportunity to turn this from hype to reality. Yet, less than 10 percent have found a way to drive value from multiple gen AI use cases—one big unlock is change management.
The world has made big sustainability commitments—it has not been easy, and it is costly. Asia has a dual challenge of not only decarbonizing, but also meeting the energy needs of a growing continent. I think that will require companies to make both defensive and offensive moves.
Putting it all together, I would say CEOs are by and large optimistic. But, they also see the need for more transformation. They see the need to build more agility in their companies, because no one quite knows what to expect next. This is the time when the gap between the winners and laggards could increase even more. When the degree of change is as high as it is, I think those who respond, thrive; and those who do not, fall apart.